MaiStoryBook Library

MaiStoryBook Library Collection: I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Pie + Reading Visual Memory Guide, Old Lady Feeder

Introducing the First Friday of November feast themed book featured in this week’s MaiStoryBook Library Collection:

“I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie” by Jackson & Schachner

Book Synopsis and Review

It’s Thanksgiving day and the food’s in the oven; the tables are set and tummies are rumbling. The doorbell rings~ who could it be? Open a door and you see an old lady. She brings Thanksgiving pie, just what you were missing, but before you can utter, Thank you, ~*Gulp* she swallows the pie whole! Whoops~ but the pie is so dry she needs some cider, and if she has cider she must have a roll, and if she swallows a roll she must have a squash, and squash calls for salad, and, of course, no Thanksgiving dinner is complete without turkey. And no way the old lady could swallow a turkey…could she? But even if she could, at least there’s still the TEN layer cake *which is the best part of dinner anyways.” And after swallowing a feast, a ten layer cake is an impossible feat! …Or is it???

Thanksgiving food galore! This book is sure to have you craving that Thanksgiving feast~ you’ll be dreaming of swallowing a whole turkey yourself! With this story’s cumulative, repetitive progression of foods the old lady has swallowed, children are encouraged to read along with the story, rattling off the growing list of foods the old lady has eaten. With fun rhymes and rhythm, and pages of quirky illustrations, it’s the perfect book to kick off some pre-Thanksgiving festivities, and set the stage for one of the biggest meals of the year!

Vocabulary List

  • Cider (p .3) a drink made from apples
  • Moisten (p. 4) to make wet and softer
  • Squash (p. 7) a type of vegetable that is similar to a potato
  • Pallid (p. 10)  pale and ill
  • Murky (p. 15) dark and gloomy

Themes/Main ideas

  • Table Manners: You could take this story as an opportunity to talk about good table manners, and what the polite way to eat your food at the dinner table or at a guests house is
  • Practicing Memory and Rhyme: Encourage your little one to read along with the story, pausing to let them fill in the rhyming words, and to see if they can recall the sequence of events and foods *use the reading buddy visual guide to prompt- see craft below*

YouTube Video: Guided Shared-Reading Read Aloud Example

Example of a shared-reading, interactive Read Aloud of “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie” – how to subtly introduce the vocabulary list words within the text, ask guided questions, and spark conversation!

*~Check it Out~*

Subscribe: MaiStoryBook Channel for additional read aloud videos!

Reading Visual Memory Guide + Old Lady Feeder

November is the month for family, friends, and FOOD, of course! Sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, savory stuffing, and roast *chicken* ~my family does juicy chicken- no humongous turkey for us~* My mouth waters with the thought of waking up to the aromas of food wafting through the bedroom doors, tickling my nose, and heightening my senses. My tummy rumbles, but I know mealtime is at the very least *given that there are no kitchen mishaps*  a few hours away. Perhaps to tide me over, I can read about this old lady who came to a house, and swallowed their WHOLE entire Thanksgiving feast! I think that *perhaps I might die* if that were to happen to our devious meal! Kick off the Thanksgiving festivities with this Thanksgiving feast storybook and featured craft! *Prepare for an afternoon of family, fun, and FOOD with this Thanksgiving food craft and clever reading buddy*

 

Materials

  • *Old Lady Feeder* Retelling Craftivity Downloadable Template 
  • 1 brown paper bag
  • 2 pieces of red construction paper OR the Food Strip Pocket from the Downloadable Template
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • double sided tape/velcro (velcro will last longer without risk of tear, but either works!)
  • Set of colors/ markers

Directions for the Old Lady Feeder

  • From the template, choose to print the color version of the Old Lady, or you can print the black and white version and color it in. I matched the lady in the book, and made a green hat, and a red body.
  • Cut out the head and body.

  • Glue the body onto the bag, so that the bottom straight edge of the body matches up the the bottom of the bag. (The opening is the top of the bag)
  • Then, cut out the gray-shaded mouth on the Old Lady so that she has a hole where her mouth is.

  • Glue her head onto the bag, at the top of the body.
  • Cut out a hole in the paper bag that matches the hole of the Old Lady’s Mouth, so that now there is a mouth-shaped opening in the bag where the Old Lady’s mouth is.

  • Open up the paper bag, and it should stand up with the old lady face and mouth hole on top.

Directions For Visual Memory Aide

  • Choose a food strip to print out and prep. Options include: picture and words, picture with fill-in-the-blank words, picture only, words and fill-in-the-picture, Fill in words and picture, blank strip
  • Cut out the food strip. Glue the two strips together on the tab. Connect the strips to make one long strip.

  • Color/draw the food pictures, and write in the names if needed. This is the order of items: pie, cider, roll, squash, salad, turkey, pot, cake, bread
  •  Next, choose which option of *Individual Food Squares* from the template that you would like to use. 
  • Cut out the individual food squares. Color/write accordingly.

  • Using velcro, or double sided tape, lightly attach the 2×2 individual square to its pair on the long food strip of paper.
    • You should have 9 squares on the strip, each with a detachable mini square of food.

  • For the red Food Strip case, if using the template, you can either print out the red color case and cut out the pieces on the outer edges, folding back on the lines in the middle OR print out the black and white template version and color it in and fold on the lines. Tape the two pieces together. 

  • Or, you can cut 2  pieces of red paper into 11 x 5″ pieces. Lay the red pieces horizontal and place the strip of paper in between them. Overlap the red pieces to match up with the length of the strip. Gently fold over the red pieces so that they make a case for the strip. Tape the case together.
  • The strip should slide in and out of the red case easily.

Enjoy Your Reading Guide Visual Memory Aide and Old Lady Feeder!

  • Use your visual memory aide and Old Lady Feeder to reread the story and feed the Old Lady as you read along with the different foods
  • Use the visual memory aide and Old Lady Feeder to retell the story without the book to a family member or friend
  • Feed the old Lady a whole bunch of different combos of food~ and Make Up Your Own story of the Old Lady and what she ate!
  • Prepare for your own Thanksgiving feast by telling what foods from your own Thanksgiving dinner the Old Lady would eat if she came to your house!

*~Overall, have some *Thanksgiving*  fun retelling this Thanksgiving feast tale with your own Reading Aides and Old Lady Feeders! Please comment below  – tag me on Instagram @MaiStoryBookLibrary  – or post on FaceBook to share your photos of your own *Old Lady Feeders and Visual Memory Aidess* and your own read aloud adventures! I’d love to hear from you!~*

*Check Back on Next Friday for our New Reading Adventure*

*~Until next time, Happy Reading~*